British parents are choosing holidays over home improvements or a new car, and the data suggests the trend is accelerating.

Recent research by Nationwide Building Society found that travel is the single top priority for consumer spending this year, with 35% of respondents planning to prioritise longer holidays and 41% determined to treat themselves despite rising household bills. Over a quarter (27%) are actively delaying major purchases such as cars or home renovations to protect their leisure budget. Nationwide described the shift as “a move from material to experiential spending.”

ABTA’s Holiday Habits report captures the effect among young families directly. Families with children under five take an average of 6.49 holidays per year, the highest of any demographic and nearly double the UK national average of 3.9. Of those trips, 78% include at least one UK break. Separately, ABTA data confirms that when forced to cut back on spending, holidays are the last thing UK adults sacrifice, ranked behind eating out, leisure subscriptions and new clothes.

“This generation of parents isn’t spending on holidays instead of saving, they’re making a deliberate choice about what holds long-term value,” said Greg Munford of Broads Tours.

“They’ve decided that what their children remember about growing up matters more than what they own. The holiday budget is protected because it reflects something they genuinely believe.”

“The fact that families with under-fives are travelling nearly seven times a year tells you this isn’t about having money to spare. Many of these households are managing tight budgets. They’re just making different trade-offs than previous generations did,” said Greg.

“The world in which we were able to take a long holiday doesn’t reflect the reality of modern life, where the cost of living and increasing demands of work mean that families are opting for multiple short breaks, allowing them to better utilise their holiday, without losing out on time with their children.”

“We’re seeing a genuine reset in what families consider a good holiday. The assumptions that shaped the market twenty years ago don’t necessarily apply anymore. This generation has different priorities, and the market is starting to catch up.”